Florida's Turnpike to go cashless as it switches to electronic tolling

David Zurschmeide, 39, slammed his motorcycle into the back of a semitrailer truck whose driver had stopped to wait for change in a cash lane at the turnpike's Cypress Creek toll plaza in July 2008.

He died a day later from his injuries.

Accidents like this once were far more common at toll plazas than they are now.

They should become nearly nonexistent as toll booths on Florida's Turnpike go the way of full service gas stations. The reason: open road tolling, where motorists with transponders drive full speed beneath an overhead antenna that automatically deducts tolls from their accounts.

Already under way, turnpike officials are spending nearly $58 million to install the high-tech overhead equipment on the 47-mile turnpike extension between Miramar and Florida City.

By February 2011, all cash collection on the turnpike's southernmost stretch will end. Toll plazas between the Golden Glades and Interstate 595 will be converted the following year. Eventually, the turnpike will be free of toll booths.

Don't fret if you don't have SunPass. Drivers without transponders will be billed later.

Since late 2007, the crash rate has dropped 58 percent at six plazas where some toll booths and cash lanes were replaced with open road tolling.

The National Transportation Safety Board in 2006 called for toll plazas nationwide to be revamped to reduce the risk of rear-end collisions.

That recommendation came after a chain-reaction crash at an Illinois toll plaza that killed eight people. While a trucker's excessive speed and inattention to slowing traffic caused the crash, the safety board concluded that the crash might have been prevented with open road tolling.

"There are millions of people who drive through them on a daily basis with no incident," Delahoz said. "All it takes is one person not paying attention to what the car in front of them is doing."

Florida's Turnpike began the march toward a "cashless" toll road in 1998 when it introduced SunPass. Now eight out of 10 rush hour drivers pay tolls electronically.

Called "Toll by Plate," overhead cameras will capture license plates, and drivers without transponders will get a bill and pay a higher toll -- 25 cents higher than SunPass customers at each plaza.

Drivers who don't have SunPass will have two ways to pay tolls:

They can set up a pre-paid account by providing their license plate number and a payment option, either a credit or debit card, or cash, check or money order deposits.

Or, they can wait until they get a bill in the mail and pay. Those who wait will be charged an additional processing fee.

Nearly 5,000 payment centers will be set up in supermarkets and other retail outlets around the state by next summer, where drivers will be able to pay their bill with cash or a credit card or replenish their SunPass account.

Drivers who ignore the bill will be treated the same as motorists who miss tolls now. If left to linger too long, the unpaid toll could turn into a fine of more than $100 plus three points on the violator's license.

About 93 percent of all drivers who get an unpaid toll notice settle the matter before it goes to court. In the past year, turnpike officials have stepped up efforts to locate violators by checking multiple databases, not just relying on license plate records, which may not be accurate if drivers' addresses on file aren't current.

"We're always going to have a certain percentage of drivers that will try to evade paying a toll," said Jennifer Olson, the turnpike's deputy executive director.

Out-of-state drivers also will be able to use the Toll by Plate program and Olson said she doesn't expect major problems because only 4 percent of the turnpike's drivers come from outside Florida.

Since 2007, the turnpike has used cameras to capture license plate images of rental cars at toll plazas statewide, then added the tolls to drivers' rental agreements when they return their cars. Customers pay the cost of the tolls plus a processing fee.

To make way for open road tolling, new overhead antennas and cameras will be installed at every plaza. Once that's done, every toll booth, canopy and barrier along the turnpike extension will be demolished. The work is being coordinated with a similar project to eliminate toll booths on the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority's four toll roads.

The overhead equipment will look similar to new structures at the Sawgrass Expressway's two main toll plazas and at its exits.

The benefits could be huge to the turnpike's bottom line. It means lower payroll because no attendants are needed. The all-electronic toll plazas don't require large tracts of land. In Miami-Dade County, an upcoming widening project is expected to cost $60 million less without accommodations for toll booths.

Officials say no cash booths also means fewer delays and less congestion for commuters and reduced pollution from cars waiting in line.

That alone makes it a worthwhile endeavor, said the Florida Highway Patrol's Delahoz. "It's a ripple effect. Anytime traffic has to stop, it backs up and you feel the effect for miles," Delahoz said. "With open road tolling you will notice a huge difference. Drivers will really appreciate it."

Michael Turnbell can be reached at mturnbell@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4155, 561-243-6550 or on Twitter @MikeTurnpike.